Saturday, April 23, 2011

As Christians, Easter reminds us of our Savior's sacrifice for us. His love. His suffering. And God's power to raise His Son.

As Christian parents, Easter reminds us of the enormous responsibility that we have to teach our children about our Savior's sacrifice for us. His love. his suffereing. And God's power to raise His Son.

But not just to teach. Not just to tell. Not just to repeat those verses of hope and songs of old (though teaching, telling, and repeating are crucial in Christian parenting). But to live a life that shows that we are grateful for our Savior.

A life that is "not our own; but is bought with a price." A life that shows our children that Christianity is far more than repeating a sinner's prayer or following church disciplines (though, again, those are crucial). A life that shows them that believing and trusting in this Savior changes a heart. Changes a life. Changes a parent.

"Lord, this Easter, help me not to just teach my children about you...but to live you. To "prove" to them that I am a follower of Jesus Christ--through my life and my love."

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

“You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up” Deuteronomy 6:7

One of my favorite “quick reads” for morning devotions (or anytime!) are books that are daily or just “many-entried” “collections.”

For example, we are currently doing some of the following for various devotional/read aloud times:

1. “Case for Christ Study Bible” by Lee Strobel—excerpts from his book within a NJKV Bible

2. “The American Patriot’s Almanac” by William J. Bennett—daily readings

3. “Gaining Favor With God and Man” –character stories about people in history

4. “In His Hands: A Family Devotional”—daily readings about nature/animals

5. “101 Hymn Stories” by Kenneth W. Osbeck

I have found that I am more successful and consistent in my “faith teaching” with my children if I have what I call “grab and go” types of materials. I don’t have a lot of prep time—and sometimes I need short reads for rushed days. “Daily” or “many entried” collections fit that bill!

“You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up” Deuteronomy 6:7

Although we seldom do a lot of picture books first thing in the morning (again, only the six year olds and up join us), I am placing them at this point since many of them are appropriate for the six to twelve year old group as well. Anything that helps you as a parent to consistently teach and talk of faith to your children is great! If a stack of picture books with faith-based themes that help you read and discuss the Lord and his ways is what works for you and your eight and ten year olds in the morning, I say, “Go for it!”

Picture books by Christian authors have character, Bible, and faith message. I love using picture books to teach many things to my children—faith and Bible, counting, alphabet, science, history/geography, relationships, character, and more. Go for the lengthier ones after age six or so—and don’t forget to discuss them after reading! The books and sources below include Bible story books, catechism type books, character, and more!

c. “Kidderminster Tales” by Christopher Lane –these might be out of print, so snatch them up used ASAP! All of my children have loved these lengthy picture books that retell some of Jesus’ parables in Kidderminster with animals. They truly are extremely clever and well-done—and the characters are much “deeper,” if you will, than the average “talking animal setting” of most books of this type. Children ages six to ten enjoy these immensely. (And these are available at many libraries!) http://www.amazon.com/Nicholas-Neighbors-Kidderminster-Kingdom-Tales/dp/0896938433/ref=pd_sim_b_1

Monday, April 18, 2011

“You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up” Deuteronomy 6:7

“If I had $500 to spend on everything I could use to train my preschoolers in faith, I would purchase the “Family Bible Library” and many, many picture books from Answers in Genesis. Children are inundated from earliest ages with the falsehoods of “millions of years,” etc.---we must counteract that information found in movies (even some of our favorite animated ones have references to it!), music, cartoons, museums, zoos, etc. with the truth. Picture books from Answers in Genesis can help you do that.” from an earlier post...

I have already reviewed the “Family Bible Library”during this “when you rise up” segment. I am going to re-print some creation science picture book reviews (as referenced in the above quote form an earlier post) today—even though not all of these are ones we necessarily use “when we rise up.” As a side note, our “littles,” ages birth to six or so, were seldom up first thing in the morning for that “faith” time. I would do readings, songs, poems, etc. with them when I got them up later. However, the creation science picture books that I am sharing below are appropriate for the six to twelve year old age group too, so I am including them at this point in the “teach them diligently and talk of them…” series. Thanks for joining us!

e. Answers in Genesis also has an amazing search engine that lets you search by age group. This is especially helpful in choosing creation science books because you do not want to get one with too much text for a four year old but too little text for a ten year old. The upper end of today’s age group’s suggestions can be found here http://www.answersingenesis.org/PublicStore/catalog/811-Years-Old,185.aspx

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Parenting/Homschool Resources

Sometimes you just need some inspiration, encouragement, or practical assistance as parents. And if you are homeschooling, you may even be in need of curriculum direction. Visit Training for Triumph, a sister ministry of PP 365 that is specifically for homeschooling families (and those considering homeschooling), and have a look around. We have a complete language arts program based on character qualities (second through twefth grade); a composition program; character/devotional materials (helpful for any Christian family desiring to build their family's faith); parenting books and tapes/cd's.